Sri Lankan president says he is seeking to defer loan payments until 2028 amid economic crisis
Associated PressCOLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka’s president said Wednesday that he is seeking a loan repayment moratorium until 2028 as the debt-ridden county tries to emerge from bankruptcy. Sri Lanka declared bankruptcy in April 2022 and suspended repayments on some $83 billion in local and foreign loans amid a severe foreign exchange crisis that led to a severe shortage of essentials such as food, medicine, fuel and cooking gas, and hours-long power cuts. Despite improve economic indicators and ends to the worst shortages, Sri Lankans have lost buying power due to high taxes and currency devaluation, while unemployment has remained high as industries that collapsed at the height of the crisis have not come back. The worst economic crisis in Sri Lanka’s history created public unrest that drove then-President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa to flee the country and resign.